2010: The Year in Gay Sex and Male Nudity

In the era of online pornography, how is it that a bare bum or simulated gay sex scene in a mainstream movie or TV show still has the ability to drive us wild? Is it the principle of “less is more”? Better production values?

Or does it have something to do with the fact that we’re seeing celebrity flesh, which is the ultimate forbidden fruit?

Whatever the reason, we can’t seem to get enough of it.

When it comes to nudity in the movies and on TV, we’ve waiting a long time for anything approaching equal time between naked female and male actors. Straight male producers and directors have been calling the shots for far too long.

But things are changing fast: Not only are more out directors putting their decidedly gay stamp on projects, Hollywood has finally realized that straight women and gay men like to have their erotic imaginations fueled, too.

What were the highlights of male nudity and gay sex on the big and small screen in 2010? Let’s take a peek, shall we?

Talbot Getting “Staked” on True Blood

A lot of people were saying it: “True Blood is so gay this year!” And you know what? They were right!

True Blood has always been pretty queer, but what raised the game this year was a series of eyebrow-raising gay sex scenes, most notably the one where Talbot gets “staked” — in more ways than one.

But let’s not forget Russell Edgington’s encounter with a male prostitute and the frequent presence of Ryan Kwanten ’s perfect ass.

And, of course, who could forget that Rolling Stone cover and the parodies it inspired?

Gay Brothers Having Sex in From Beginning to End

Truthfully, we thought this Brazilian film about brothers who fall in love with each other was pretty bad.

But the two leads, Rafael Cardoso and João Gabriel Vasconcellos, are stunners.

The Glory Of Spartacus

When Spartacus debuted in January of 2010, we boldly declared that—despite the prevalence of male nudity on the show—we’d never see Spartacus’ penis. Guess what? we did!

Nothing seemed to be off-limits: Given the amazing bodies on display, and the tantalizing way they were displayed in those loincloths, this sword-and-sandals epic would’ve been a gay favorite even without all the full-frontal nudity. (Not that we minded it.)

And hey, the show even managed to have an actual gay sex scene or two.

The Possibility of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Junk in Love and Other Drugs

Our verdict? Unless Gyllenhaal is hung like a rolling pin (a possibility, we’ll grant), it’s just a trick of the light—or the sheets.

Still, even apart from that scene, who knew we’d ever get to see so much of Jake?

Ronnie Kroell in Playgirl

Watching the first season of Make Me a Supermodel, it was sometimes hard not to think, “Hmmm, I wonder what Ronnie Kroell looks like naked.” We didn’t have to wait long to find out: the openly gay finalist showed the world what he had in Playgirl pictorial earlier this year.

Not only did Kroell definitely not disappoint, Playgirl didn’t either: the pictures themselves were a hell of a lot better than Levi Johnston’s.

Edgar Ramirez in The Jackal

Ramirez just received a well-deserved Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance as a Venezuelan terrorist in this riveting mini-series. Over the course of the show he ages decades—and we see him fully naked throughout. (It’s hard to believe it’s the same actor).

It’s an impressive tour de force of acting — and, well, since the whole point of this article is superficial, it’s also an impressive body.

Lots of Thomas Jane Naked in Hung:

Remember how we said they’d never show Spartacus’ penis in Spartacus? We also said the same thing about Thomas Jane in this HBO series about a male prostitute. And, sadly, we were right.

Hung did manage to show plenty of Jane from just about every angle possible, going to sometimes hilarious lengths to hide the actual, well, length.

Hot Guys Laying Around in Their Underwear in Plan B

The Argentine movie Plan B tells the meandering story of two straight guys falling in love. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but on the other hand, it has a couple of hot guys lying around in their briefs.

What’s that, you say? You don’t have an underwear fetish? You will after you see this movie.

Mark Ruffalo’s Bare Ass in The Kids Are All Right

If Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be writing sonnets to Mark Ruffalo’s tush. It’s been a few years since we’d seen it, so when it popped up unexpectedly in this summer’s lesbian dramedy The Kids Are All Right< , it was like the welcome return of an old friend.

Or, rather perfectly round, juicy, young friend.

Hunter Parrish in Weeds

They grow up so quickly, don’t they? At what point during Weed’s six-season run did Hunter Parrish go from being “geeky teenager” to “outright stud?” Whenever it happened, the producers clearly clued into the transformation and are now giving the audience exactly what it wants—which is basically Hunter naked.

This year’s highlights include that stunning steam-room sex scene. Sadly, the character remains steadfastly heterosexual.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar in Weeds

Speaking of childhood actors who grew up to be naked hotties on Weeds, the former Saved by the Bell star generated all sorts of heat (not to mention blog posts) when he and Mary Louise Parker hooked up in one of the year’s most discussed sex scenes.

No doubt we missed some of the year’s other hot naked moments. Feel free to tell us yours in the comments!